Edutopia - Comments for At the Movies: Films Focused on Education Reformhttps://www.edutopia.org/crss/node/440612
enIt may be helpful tohttps://www.edutopia.org/comment/202766#comment-202766
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<div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><p>It may be helpful to distinguish unschooling, which I believe is your sentiment, from homeschooling which is sometimes coopted by religious zealots.</p>
</div>Wed, 29 Jul 2015 19:57:56 +0000zepcomment 202766 at https://www.edutopia.org"They are now parents andhttps://www.edutopia.org/comment/202761#comment-202761
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<div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><p>"They are now parents and lack the necessary skills to be involved with their kids to help them succeed." Wow, I hope I never generalize an entire group of people whom I've never met with such a wide swatch of venom.</p>
</div>Wed, 29 Jul 2015 19:53:15 +0000zepcomment 202761 at https://www.edutopia.orgI agree with Jeremy Stuart. https://www.edutopia.org/comment/182226#comment-182226
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<div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><p>I agree with Jeremy Stuart. While homeschooling may not be for everyone, for some people it is a very viable option and needs to be included in the mix. As a teacher in the public homeschool field since 1998, first at the Alta Loma School District's Independent Study program, then a decade at a K12.com virtual academy, and now at Inspire Charter Schools, I can share with you that children at either end of the bell curve often thrive academically at home. Their differentiated needs are not always well served in public school as harried teachers with large class sizes often teach to the students who are in the middle of the bell curve. There is a reason why Stanford and other colleges seek out homeschool students. These students are not burned out from jumping through hoops and are still actually curious about learning. I hear and witness countless success stories from families who are grateful they have options especially those who are in underperforming public schools, and those who are targets of bullies. At Inspire Charter Schools we are offering blended, or hybrid schooling for students who have a passion for performing arts, STEAM, or perhaps outdoor education. We are providing 2-3 days of project-based, thematic and collaborative learning for students in our Specialty Schools program as a part of their electives, and therefore at no cost for our students.</p>
<p>By the way, an excellent documentary that explores this subject is titled Class Dismissed. The film does a great job of following one family as they wrestle with the idea of schooling at home and then tracking them for a year. Check out the review on the Huffington Post: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-escobar/class-dismissed-documentary_b_6031592.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-escobar/class-dismissed-document...</a> and visit their website: classdismissedmovie.com/ You will hear Jeremy's voice loud and clear in this wonderfully, well balanced documentary as he hand a large hand in it.</p>
</div>Sun, 05 Apr 2015 16:16:00 +0000Arlene @ Inspire Charter Schoolscomment 182226 at https://www.edutopia.orgIn the Pakistan, students inhttps://www.edutopia.org/comment/173421#comment-173421
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<div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><p>In Pakistan, students in English class often look forward to the end of literature units. Once the final test is over, they know that the teacher will bring in the video version of the book - giving students a two day break to sleep, pass notes to friends, finish homework for other classes, or maybe (just maybe) compare and contrast the movie with the novel.</p>
</div>Thu, 12 Feb 2015 06:07:31 +0000Farah Najamcomment 173421 at https://www.edutopia.orgKevshp, thanks for thehttps://www.edutopia.org/comment/142381#comment-142381
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<div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><p>Kevshp, thanks for the suggestion!</p>
</div>Wed, 24 Sep 2014 16:41:05 +0000Ashley Cronincomment 142381 at https://www.edutopia.orgOn Twitter, Gary Padgetthttps://www.edutopia.org/comment/122786#comment-122786
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<div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><p>On Twitter, Gary Padgett (@DrGaryPadgett) highly recommends "Here Comes the Boom" as a great film to re-inspire and re-engage teachers.</p>
</div>Thu, 29 May 2014 18:39:50 +0000Danielle Sigmoncomment 122786 at https://www.edutopia.orgI saw Waiting for Supermanhttps://www.edutopia.org/comment/60442#comment-60442
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<div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><p>I saw Waiting for Superman this week. I was disappointed to see that the portrayal of the children and parents were so idealized. I've worked in education since 1965, in private and public schools.<br />
In the movie there were no children who seemed neglected, no discipline problems, no angry parents who had problems themselves. There were no rural schools.<br />
I find most teachers work very hard in difficult situations. I see some who could do more, but they should have been weeded out before tenure. I didn't think tenure mattered until we had some really off balance administrators, one superintendent wanted to fire me because I questioned the dropout rate which was reported way below the real rate. Tenure isn't always a bad thing and tenured teachers can be fired. Our district has terminated several tenured and untenured teachers and administrators. Administration needs to be held accountable as much as teachers.<br />
We work hard to engage parents, but some cannot respond. Not all are as concerned and active as the movie showed. This problem isn't only about teachers..It takes a village to raise a child.</p>
</div>Thu, 18 Nov 2010 15:48:50 +0000Mary Ellen Bossackcomment 60442 at https://www.edutopia.orgMoving on to what can inspire https://www.edutopia.org/comment/60438#comment-60438
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<div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><p>Films that point our problems can be useful starting points, even if they misidentify the problems and the solutions, which was sometimes the case in these movies. The comments above (and the many articles Waiting for Superman in particular has ignited) that probe further, identify misleading statistics, missed opportunities, and ask how public schools and society can meet the missions of their times instead of throwing them out with the bath water are examples of that. </p>
<p>And then there are movies that give form and direction to what public school can be, building from current examples. World Peace and other 4th Grade Accomplishments has already been mentioned in these comments. Our film AUGUST TO JUNE Bringing LIFE To School <a href="http://www.augusttojune.com">http://www.augusttojune.com</a> will be out in January, and was recently reviewed by John Merrow <a href="http://takingnote.learningmatters.tv/?p=4539">http://takingnote.learningmatters.tv/?p=4539</a> Another look at directions that can and are being pursued is found in Speaking In Tongues, <a href="http://speakingintonguesfilm.info/">http://speakingintonguesfilm.info/</a> which has recently been showing on some PBS stations. These films have in common that they demonstrate what can actually happen when communities and teachers create learning situations that engage students. Rather than relying on easily manipulated statistics, they exemplify some specific directions we can take, while avoiding one-size-fits-all solutions, as well as being enjoyable to watch! I hope Edutopians will take a closer look at these, and demand media beyond Edutopia's pages that enrich our understanding of the many faces of good teaching.</p>
</div>Sat, 13 Nov 2010 17:25:55 +0000Amy Valenscomment 60438 at https://www.edutopia.orgMoving on to what can inspire https://www.edutopia.org/comment/60437#comment-60437
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<div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><p>Films that point our problems can be useful starting points, even if they misidentify the problems and the solutions, which was sometimes the case in these movies. The comments above (and the many articles Waiting for Superman in particular has ignited) that probe further, identify misleading statistics, missed opportunities, and ask how public schools and society can meet the missions of their times instead of throwing them out with the bath water are examples of that. </p>
<p>And then there are movies that give form and direction to what public school can be, building from current examples. World Peace and other 4th Grade Accomplishments has already been mentioned in these comments. Our film AUGUST TO JUNE Bringing LIFE To School <a href="http://www.augusttojune.com">http://www.augusttojune.com</a> will be out in January, and was recently reviewed by John Merrow <a href="http://takingnote.learningmatters.tv/?p=4539">http://takingnote.learningmatters.tv/?p=4539</a> Another look at directions that can and are being pursued is found in Speaking In Tongues, <a href="http://speakingintonguesfilm.info/">http://speakingintonguesfilm.info/</a> which has recently been showing on some PBS stations. These films have in common that they demonstrate what can actually happen when communities and teachers create learning situations that engage students. Rather than relying on easily manipulated statistics, they exemplify some specific directions we can take, while avoiding one size fits all solutions as well as being enjoyable to watch! I hope Edutopians will take a closer look at these, and demand media beyond Edutopia's pages that enrich our understanding of the many faces of good teaching.</p>
</div>Sat, 13 Nov 2010 17:23:06 +0000Amy Valenscomment 60437 at https://www.edutopia.orgHomeschooling is viable for everyonehttps://www.edutopia.org/comment/60335#comment-60335
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<div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><p>Home schooling is definitely a viable option for communities in cycles of poverty, Native American, black, brown and white communities. Most of these communities historically have been stripped of their freedoms and powers to self govern. They have had their families divided, have been overcoming genocide; have been struggling with national oppressive policies that are bias to their needs as a whole person. What this nation needs is a large injection of family time. All families need to regroup and heal, especially families in communities that have been oppressed. People learn so much from being with their children and that process is extremely healing. </p>
<p>Homeschooling/unschooling as an option for these communities is always argued against, using a negative narrative of the community. There are soo many positive people, stories and leaders in these communities that are ignored. The national narrative on these communities is incomplete and bias. I don't think I need to convince anyone that the mainstream media portrays these communities by highlighting the most negative stories and ignoring the positive aspects. Historically and currently there are plenty of outstanding stories of overcoming challenges and of self-actualization, from John Brown to KRS one. These stories need to be told to the children in these communities . . . actually ALL communities. A person's story is extremely important in education. One's history, biology, language and dreams contextualize the content they are studying. Negative narratives should not be used when deciding what's viable and what's not.</p>
<p>Current schools are detached from this truth and try to standardize people, dehumanizing them. Historically, schools have been the mechanism to stratify society into classes, tracking the powerless and making sure that they do not become their best selves. Never was the intention to educate, but to school, and there is a difference between education and schooling. The most successful students become robot-like, learning how to memorize and spit out information, but not to deeply analyze it and assimilate it into their selves. They are fast tracked and their adolescence is delayed. "When they come of age, they are certain they must know something because their degrees and licenses say they do. They remain so convinced until an unexpectedly brutal divorce, corporate downsizing in midlife, or panic attacks of meaninglessness upset the precarious balance of their incomplete humanity, their stillborn adult lives...Years of intellectual and spiritual education would be needed to restore such faculties" John Taylor Gatto</p>
<p>Thank God for the heroes who have found true education and I admit a buncha' of these heroes are in the school system, but must fight against incredible and malintended forces. There's also the excuse of "keeping children safe" for families in crisis, to have a compulsory educational system and keep children institutionalized for 16 plus years. Other solutions are viable.</p>
<p>These communities are in high need of family time, healing, self-education, self-governance and ultimately, freedom. With that said, there seem to be double standards. There are wealthy families that also have troubled home environments. Parents that never spend time with their children, are on drugs, drug their children and/or have questionable morals and citizenship. These families are rarely highlighted or criticized. Family services don't go banging on their doors and break up the family. They can do whatever they want with their children because they have money, which is an indictment on our society's values. Money DOESN'T equal success; self-actualization and happiness is success. Some of history's greatest leaders were highly spiritual and monk-like. If a child wants to be a monk, how will schools prepare them for that path? </p>
<p>In practice, I identify a transitional stage for home schooling in these communities. During this transitional period, healthy families and those willing and wanting to home school, would pioneer home schooling in these neighborhoods and become examples for the rest of the community to witness. For example, a person who has an addiction may have a sibling with a healthy family life who could be a role model for their nephew or niece; they could even take them in and home school them themselves. This child may decide to home school their children in the future. This transitional period may take a few generations, but the idea of homeschooling would take root and begin to heal these communities. </p>
<p>In cases where there are no immediate family members able to home school, the current schools, ideally reformed to allow open source learning and self-education, could provide support for the child and community healing processes. I would love to see a post secondary education model starting at Kindergarten. It's during college that students are allowed to think and be part of finding their path, way too late in my opinion. Schools should not be compulsory. Families should be able to choose classes and have their children take as many or as little as they want. Classes should be a mix of free form, cross-generational, open source learning with contextualized curriculum. Classes should compete for attendance. Instructors would design quality classes, where families would be free to decide which class they want to take. Some classes could be modeled in the Suzuki method, where parents take classes with their children. </p>
<p>Finland has the highest rated schools in the world and they home school until age 8. When children are matriculated into the schools, they are provided with loop teaching (same teacher for four or more years), lots of free time (for students and teachers), and instructors are trusted and allowed to be as creative as they can be with their curriculum. Ultimately, it would be great if the current school model could be reformed and the community could regain these institutions of education. But so many of our institutions have been co-opted and are failing us: Government, Journalism, Music with their 3 minute factory produced hits - Stevie wonder, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, and Etta James would never make it in today's industry, very grateful for the internet. Now they are trying to co-opt the Internet by destroying net neutrality and creating a tiered system. Sorry for the rant, but the corruption has reached the core and we need to begin again, starting with the American family.</p>
<p>Here are some links:<br />
Changing the Education Paradigm:<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/theRSAorg#p/u/0/zDZFcDGpL4U">http://www.youtube.com/user/theRSAorg#p/u/0/zDZFcDGpL4U</a></p>
<p>Schooling the world:<br /><a href="http://schoolingtheworld.org/film/film-clips/hd-trailer/">http://schoolingtheworld.org/film/film-clips/hd-trailer/</a></p>
<p>No More Prisons: Urban Life, homeschooling and Hip Hop Leadership:<br /><a href="http://www.softskull.com/detailedbook.php?isbn=1-59376-205-4">http://www.softskull.com/detailedbook.php?isbn=1-59376-205-4</a></p>
<p>Freedom schools<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Schools">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Schools</a></p>
<p>The Prohibited Education<br /><a href="http://www.educacionprohibida.com/En/index.html">http://www.educacionprohibida.com/En/index.html</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130333806&amp;sc=fb&amp;cc=fp">http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130333806&amp;sc=fb&amp;cc=fp</a></p>
</div>Wed, 20 Oct 2010 15:25:06 +0000Roy Roblescomment 60335 at https://www.edutopia.org